A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. Sermons
I. TRUTHS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT. 1. The obstinate offender and his doom. (Ver. 1.) The repeated complaint against Israel was that they were a "stiff-necked people." Self-willed, haughty, persistent, defying rebuke and chastisement, is the habit described. It invites judgment. "When lesser warnings will not serve, God looks into his quiver for deadly arrows." They who will not bend before the gentle persuasions of God's Holy Spirit must feel the rod. Men may make themselves outlaws from the kingdom of God. 2. Wisdom and virtue inseparable in conduct. (Ver. 3.) So much so that the same word may occasionally do duty for either notion. Thus the French mean by one who is "sage" one who is chaste and virtuous. The effects are alike. Joy is given to parents by the sage conduct of children; and vice is seen to be folly by the waste and want it brings in its train (comp. Proverbs 6:26; Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 28:7). 3. The dishonesty of flattery. (Ver. 5.) It may be designed to deceive, and is then coloured with the darkest hue of treachery. Or it may be undesigned in its effects. But in either case, the web of flattering lies becomes a snare in which the neighbour stumbles to his fall (comp. Proverbs 26:24, 25, 28). The kiss of the flatterer is more deadly than the hate of a foe. "When we are most praised for our discernment, we are apt to act most foolishly; for praise tends to cloud the understanding and pervert the judgment." 4. Delusive and genuine joy. (Ver. 6.) The serpent is concealed amidst the roses of illicit pleasures; a canker is at the core of the forbidden fruit. A "shadow darkens the ruby of the cup, and dims the splendour of the scene." But ever there is a song in the ways of God. See the example of Patti and Silas even in prison (Acts 16:25). "Always there are evil days in the world; always good days in the Lord" (Augustine, on Psalm 33). II. THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL GOODNESS ON SOCIAL AND PUBLIC WEAL. 1. The general happiness is dependent on the conduct of individuals. (Ver. 2; comp. Proverbs 28:12, 28.) For society is a collection of individuals. "It is no peculiar conceit, but a matter of sound consequence, that all duties are by so much the better performed, by how much the men are more religious from whose abilities the same proceed. For if the course of political affairs cannot in any good sort go forward without fit instruments, and that which fitteth them be their virtues, let polity acknowledge itself indebted to religion, godliness being the chiefest, top, and well-spring of all true virtue, even as God is of all good things." "Religion, unfeignedly lived, perfecteth man's abilities unto all kinds of virtuous services in the commonwealth" (Hooker, 'Eccl. Pol.,' 5:1). 2. The effect of just administration and of bribery. (Ver. 4.) The best laws are of no avail if badly administered. God's throne is founded on justice (Psalm 89:14). And this only can be the foundation of national stable polity and of the common weal "We will sell justice to none," says the Magna Charta. The theocracy was overthrown in the time of Samuel by the corruption of his sons. The just administration of David "bore up the pillars" of the land (2 Samuel 8:15). The greed of Jehoiakim again shook the kingdom to its foundations (Jeremiah 22:18-19). Righteousness alone exalteth a nation. 3. Justice to the poor. (Ver. 7.) The good man enters into the feelings of others, and makes the lot of the oppressed, in sympathy and imagination, his own. The evil and hard-hearted man, looking at life only from the outside, treats the poor as dumb driven cattle, and easily becomes the tyrant and the oppressor. Peculiarly, sympathy, consideration, compassion for the lowly and the poor, have been infused into the conscience of the world, and made "current coin" by the example and spirit of the Redeemer. - J.
The fear of man bringeth a snare. Every passion of the soul may be of use to us, but is capable also, by being perverted, of causing much vexation and misery to ourselves and injury to our fellow-creatures. Year, while it proceeds from right principles, and is proportioned to the weight and moment of the evils about which it is conversant, must serve the most beneficial purposes, as it warns us where our greatest danger lies, and strongly prompts us to avoid it. But the case is quite otherwise when it forms imaginary dangers and alarms with false terrors. Then our fears turn us aside from our duty, and in avoiding trifling evils we run ourselves into greater.I. WHAT IS THE FEAR OF MAN? A reverence of human authority and customs, and a dread of the censure and reproaches of our fellow-creatures. 1. There is a reverence due to human authority in all points that do not exceed the just bounds of it, and the paying this regard is absolutely necessary to hold the frame of civil societies together. The ends of society cannot be secured but by mutual condescension and respect, and the compliance and submission of the minor part, in things lawful. 2. A man ought to be afraid of censure and reproach being fixed upon him, and anxious to deliver and clear himself from it. Men must be of a temper quite stupid if they have no fear at all of public reproach and infamy, and must lose a very powerful restraint from mean, ungenerous, and disgraceful practices. 3. We are guilty of the utmost rashness and folly if we expose ourselves to the resentments of our fellow-men unnecessarily. And a dread of those punishments which the civil magistrate inflicts is not only lawful, but necessary. Thus far, then, the fear of man may be defended and justified. II. IN WHAT SENSE. IT BRINGETH A SNARE. It throws temptations in men's way which are likely to prevail so far as to destroy all improvements in true wisdom and virtue. 1. Suppose a man, under the influence of this slavish principle, engages in search after truth, what proficiency is it possible for him to make? In order to making improvements in Divine knowledge it is absolutely necessary that the mind be free, calm, and unruffled, under no restraint or terror. There must be no corrupt passion to darken the understanding, nor private interest to mislead and pervert it. 2. It is as great an absurdity to expect that one who is dispirited by worldly fears should be a confessor and martyr for true religion as that a coward should be brave and valiant. Slavish fear of man leads men even to revile and banter the truth. 3. This fear will have the same malignant influence upon our morals as upon our faith. When it rises to such a height as to overrule the dictates of natural conscience, and entirely to destroy the strength and constancy of our minds, we are an easy prey to every temptation, and lie open to the most desperate and abandoned wickedness. If it be our ultimate view to secure the countenance and favour of persons in authority and avoid their displeasure, this likewise will subject us to many snares and inconveniences. III. OFFER SOME REMEDIES AGAINST THIS FEAR OF MAN. 1. Maintain and improve in our minds a strong sense of the necessary difference between good and evil. 2. Add a becoming sense of the dignity of our nature. 3. Trust in God, as advised in the latter part of the text. 4. Cultivate a supreme reverence for God. These two — fear of man and fear of God — are absolutely inconsistent, and cannot subsist together. (James Foster.) 1. The fear of man often leads to downright, positive sin. 2. The fear of man keeps many a lad from decision for Christ. (G. Everard, M.A.) 1. For the fear of man is more general than we are aware of. 2. To all who yield to its influence it brings a fatal snare. II. ITS PROPER AND ONLY EFFECTUAL ANTIDOTE. Regard for God Himself. We should trust Him for support, happiness, recompense. Improvement: 1. A word of caution. 2. Of encouragement. (S. Simeon, M.A.) Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. I. THERE IS SAFETY NOWHERE EXCEPT IN THE CARE OF GOD, for in His hands alone are sources of safety.II. God can make safe ONLY THOSE WHO TRUST HIM FULLY. III. COMPLETE TRUST CAN EXIST ONLY BETWEEN PARTIES IN ACCORD and in the confidence of each other. IV. IN ORDER TO TRUST IN THE LORD TWO THINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. 1. We must confidently believe that God is able, willing, and ready to care for us. 2. That we are worthy of His care. V. TO BE SAFE WE MUST BE AT ONE WITH GOD. VI. OUTSIDE OF GOD'S PROTECTION ARE DANGER, DARKNESS, DEATH — ETERNAL. (Homiletic Review.). People SolomonPlaces JerusalemTopics Brings, Companion, Company, Destroyeth, Friend, Glad, Goes, Harlots, Joy, Keepeth, Keeps, Loose, Lover, Loves, Loveth, Loving, Makes, Prostitutes, Rejoiceth, Spendeth, Squanders, Substance, Waster, Wastes, Wasteth, Wealth, Wisdom, WomenOutline 1. observations of public government15. and of private 22. Of anger, pride, thievery, cowardice and corruption Dictionary of Bible Themes Proverbs 29:3 5668 children, responsibilities to parents Library An Obscured vision(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who … J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot Two Ancient Proverbs The Baptismal Covenant Can be Kept Unbroken. Aim and Responsibility of Parents. But Sometimes a Peril to Eternal Salvation Itself is Put Forth against Us... Little Sarah Howley. For, Concerning False Witness, which is Set Down in the Ten Commands of The... Palm Sunday It Remains Then that we Understand as Concerning those Women... What are Evidences of Backsliding in Heart. God's Glory the Chief End of Man's Being How the Impatient and the Patient are to be Admonished. Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ... How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away. 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